Stoned (Unlikely Heroes Book 4) Page 30

  Craig and Viper circled each other warily.

  “Too bad we’re not at the compound,” Viper said. “I would love to fight you in the octagon.”

  “I don’t need an octagon to kill you,” Stoner retorted.

  Viper lunged.

  Karen let out a soft scream in warning, but it wasn’t necessary. Craig dodged to the side, out of Viper’s reach. He was so focused on Viper that not once did he look at her.

  Which was good. He would need to stay focused if he wanted to survive. She would try to keep quiet from here on out so she didn’t distract him. If Craig died, she would be next.

  Viper rolled to his feet. They continued to dance around each other for several more minutes until Viper lunged again. This time he slammed into Craig’s legs. Craig fell back into a table, knocking it, and all the plants on it, to the floor. A loud crash reverberated through the greenhouse as upended plants and pots exploded everywhere. The men grappled across the floor, rolling in the spilled potting soil and broken leaves. Karen would have been outraged by the destruction to her plants if the situation wasn’t so serious.

  “Get up, Craig,” she whispered, her heart in her throat, forgetting her vow to keep quiet. “Please, get up.”

  Viper straddled Craig and tried to get him in a choke hold, but Craig managed to slip out of his grasp. He lunged to his feet. Viper followed, his gaze hard as they danced around each other once again. The snakes all over his torso seemed to slither and hiss with each movement of his muscles. Karen jerked her gaze away from Viper’s creepy tattoos and focused on Craig.

  “Come on, Craig,” she prayed softly. “Don’t leave me. I need you.”

  Craig’s gaze flicked to hers, then away.

  Had he heard her?

  Please don’t leave me.

  Viper lunged at Craig again. They knocked another table down, sending pots and plants flying in every which direction.

  They rolled across the floor, grappling and wrestling, each trying to get the upper hand. Karen got dizzy trying to see what was going on from her position on top of the table. While she stared, she discovered one of her hands was free. Trying to stay calm, she pushed and pulled at the other hand, trying to free it from the chair.

  The men rose to their feet and began circling once again. There were no rounds in this fight, no breaks for water or to catch their breaths. This fight would go on until one of them was dead.

  The finality of “death” made her heart twist.

  Don’t die, Craig. Please don’t die.

  Both men were breathing heavily, their torsos slick with sweat in the humid greenhouse. It would be a matter of who had the most stamina. Both men appeared to be in excellent physical shape. She had no idea who would win.

  But she refused to stay tied to this chair and watch Viper beat Craig to death. She would escape. She would help. Even if Craig managed to kill Viper, he still had Scorpion and Cougar to deal with. He would be tired. He would need her help.

  “Why don’t you just give up?” Viper hissed. He danced to the side as Craig bounced toward him.

  “Why don’t you?” Craig snapped back. “You know I’m going to kill you. I won’t give up until you’ve stopped breathing.”

  Viper bared his teeth. “Then it’s going to be a long night.”

  He lunged at Craig again. Viper slammed into him, knocking him to the floor. Craig grunted. They grappled across the concrete, rolling this way and that through the fallen plants and spilled potting soil.

  Karen finally managed to free her other hand. But her feet were still bound to the chair legs. It would be impossible to work them free.

  Unless she somehow managed to break the chair legs off the chair.

  The only way she could do that was if she knocked the chair off the table and onto the floor. It would be a risky move, because she could be injured in the fall. But her hands were now free, so she would be able to catch herself when she went over the side.

  Karen glanced back at the fighters. Craig was on top now, his arm around Viper’s throat. She hesitated. If Craig won, she might not need to jump off the table. But if he lost, she would lose her chance.

  It was now or never.

  Karen bounced the chair forward.

  It tilted sideways off the table.

  She teetered in the air, then careened off the side.

  Karen hit the concrete. The front left leg of the chair took the brunt of the fall. It cracked, then splintered. Pain zinged up her ankle. She stood up and kick her leg free of the broken chair leg. Dragging the chair behind her, as it was still attached to her right leg, she hobbled down the row, heading for the gardening tools she kept at the end of the table. She needed a weapon. Any weapon. She would not let them kill Craig.

  Snatching up a hand fork in one hand and a set of long-handled shears in the other, she came around the table.

  Cougar shook his head and pointed a gun in her face. “I don’t think so, lady.”

  Karen swallowed hard. She glanced back at the fighters. Viper was now on top of Craig and had him in what appeared to be some type of an arm bar. A pop rendered the air as his bone snapped. Karen let out a horrified gasp.

  Hang on, Craig!

  She jerked her gaze back to Cougar and the gun.

  Their gazes locked.

  She couldn’t let them win. She wouldn’t.

  Do it, Karen! Now!

  Karen swung her arm forward and raked the hand fork across Cougar’s face.

  Cougar squealed and stumbled backward. He tripped, falling into a stack of rakes and shovels that leaned against the wall.

  The gun went off, the sound deafening in the small greenhouse.

  Karen hobbled around the table, dragging the chair with her, and headed toward the fighters. Apparently her distraction had been enough that Viper let Craig go. Cradling his broken arm against his chest, his face a grimace of pain, Craig eyed his opponent.

  Scorpion came flying at Karen, but she was ready. She threw the shears at him, trying to aim for his heart. The blades slammed into his stomach. He let out a surprised grunt and crumpled to the floor, clutching his bleeding stomach.

  “She stabbed me,” he whispered in shock. “The bitch stabbed me.”

  Yes!

  Cougar was rising from where he’d fallen into the rakes and shovels. Karen needed a new weapon. The hose reel was to her left, only a few feet away. Dragging the chair with her, she hobbled toward the reel and yanked on the hose, pulling the end free.

  Too busy trying to protect herself, Karen had no idea how Craig was managing in his fight with Viper. Right now she had to save herself.

  Cougar lifted the gun. Karen swung the nozzle that was attached to the end of the hose at Cougar’s hand. The nozzle slammed into his arm, knocking the gun aside. The gun clattered to the floor. More of the hose pulled loose from the reel, unraveling onto the concrete.

  Cougar leapt back, clutching his injured hand.

  He reached down for the fallen gun.

  Karen snatched up a bottle of pesticide sitting on the edge on the table. Aiming it at Cougar, she pressed the nozzle, squirting it at him just as he raised the gun and pointed it at her.

  Cougar reared back, waving his arms, as the pesticide shot into his face. With a curse, he dropped the gun for the third time. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at the pesticide dripping down his face.

  “You bitch!”

  Karen lunged for the gun.

  So did Cougar.

  A hand latched onto the back of her neck. Hard fingers squeezed painfully into her flesh. She gasped.

  Viper yanked her to her feet.

  Her head spun. What had happened? Where was Craig?

  Then she spied him. He was on the floor a few feet away, laying on his side, his chest heaving in and out. Blood pooled beneath him. Her breath caught. Had Viper stabbed him?

  Craig’s hand moved. He struggled into a sitting position. His broken arm hung uselessly against his side.

  “Let her go,
Viper. It’s me you want.”

  Viper’s lip curled back into a sneer. He flung Karen aside and came at Craig with a growl. Karen stared, her heart in her throat, as Craig snatched up the hose she’d unraveled. He rose just as Viper launched himself at him. With a quick twist, then a pull, he wrapped the hose around Viper’s throat and yanked it tight. Viper let out a startled grunt, then fell forward on top of Craig.

  Craig held onto the hose one-handed, using his shoulder as leverage to keep the hose tight, while Viper thrashed and fought to breathe.

  The seconds ticked by.

  Viper’s face went whiter, his lips slackening. Karen turned away as he finally gasped out his last breath and went still.

  Scorpion moaned from the floor where he lay in a pool of his own blood, still clutching the shears she’d stabbed into him.

  Cougar’s eyes went wide as he glanced from Scorpion to Viper’s lifeless body. He swore a bloody streak. Then he raced for the door, nearly tripping several times in his haste to get away.

  Karen choked out a sob. She stumbled forward, dragging the broken chair with her, until she reached Craig’s side.

  Craig shoved Viper’s body aside.

  He reached for her with his good arm. She collapsed onto the floor and threw her arms around his neck, sobbing against him. His arm tightened around her, squeezing her tight. She never wanted him to let go.

  Finally he drew back and gazed down at her.

  “Are you all right? Damn woman, I can’t believe you just did that. You have more courage than most men. You’re amazing, you know that?”

  She choked out a laugh. “So are you. You’re bleeding. Where are you hurt?”

  “It’s just a scratch. When Viper slammed into me, one of the plastic pots broke and sliced open my side. Nothing serious.”

  He dragged her back against him, burying his face in her hair. “I have a lot of things I want to say to you, Karen.”

  “I have a lot of things I want to say to you too,” she whispered. “But not here.” She drew back. “Let’s get your arm fixed first, okay?”

  He cupped her chin in his palm and planted a kiss firmly on her lips. “You’re not going to sneak away while I’m in surgery, are you? I believe I promised you a dinner. You can’t say no.”

  Karen chuckled. She looked into his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. Dinner sounds wonderful.”

  He kissed her again, then he moaned and leaned back. “God, you’re giving me a hard on and I’ve got a broken arm. Only you can do that to me, Karen. Only you.”

  She snorted out a laugh. Their gazed locked. He chuckled.

  “I’d better call Nick now. He’s going to be worried.”

  Karen helped him to his feet. Together they hobbled toward the entrance. Craig snatched his shirt from the wall and draped it over Karen’s shoulders, covering her nakedness.

  He pulled a pair of pruners off the wall and bent to cut the zip tie off her leg. She shoved the chair aside and smiled up at him.

  “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure. As pretty as you are, hobbling around with a chair attached to your leg really isn’t that sexy.”

  She giggled. “I love your twisted sense of humor.”

  “Hey,” Scorpion called from behind them. “What about me? I’m dying.”

  “You’re not dying,” Craig tossed over his shoulder. “She barely poked you with those shears.”

  He linked his fingers through Karen’s and smiled down at her. A beautiful smile that tugged at her heart and made her breath catch. She smiled back and squeezed his hand.

  Together they walked out of the greenhouse and let the door slam shut behind them.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “You don’t have to drive me home, Karen.”

  “No, I insist.” Karen glanced askance at Craig as they left the hospital. “I want to.”

  He nodded and turned to look out his window.

  Craig had suffered an anterior fracture-dislocation of the olecranon, which was a bone in his elbow. The surgery had gone well and the orthopedic surgeon had explained that he was able to repair the damage and insert a tension band fixation to hold the broken elbow in place. Craig would need to wear a brace and a sling for awhile, but the doctor expected him to make a full recovery. They’d kept him overnight in the hospital and had released him first thing the next morning. Karen had stayed at the hospital all night with him. She’d fallen asleep in the chair in his room. Nick and April had shown up later that morning. They’d brought Craig’s car to him. Karen had hugged her daughter and son-in-law, thanked them, and sent them on their way.

  Scorpion had been treated at the hospital, then hauled off to jail. Cougar had been apprehended in the woods not long after the cops had arrived. With all the members in jail, and their leader dead, the Cobras were no longer a motorcycle gang.

  Craig was unusually silent on the drive to his house. He only spoke long enough to give her directions. Overwhelmed by nerves, Karen didn’t try to engage him in conversation. She’d never been this nervous before. Whatever happened today would determine whether or not she and Craig had a future.

  He lived right on the edge of Lake Pend Oreille in Sagle. She pulled into the driveway twenty minutes later, stunned by the size and beauty of the place.

  Craig’s house was of newer construction, she guessed less than ten years old, two stories, had lots of big windows to enjoy the view, and a wraparound porch with a white railing. The landscaping was incredible, native species mixed with stunning imports. Karen tried not to drool over the gorgeous arrangement of the plants.

  “Not that it’s any of my business, but how can you afford a place like this?” She stopped his SUV in the driveway and turned her head to gape at the property. “I mean, look at it, it has to be at least three or four thousand square feet, and the views…oh my God, this place is incredible. Your landscaping is making me drool.”

  Craig’s mouth curved into a smile as he watched her. His eyes sparkled with merriment. “I made some wise investments over the years. Plus I don’t have an expensive wife or a gaggle of kids to support.”

  Was he teasing? She glanced back at him. “Was that said in jest?”

  He smiled, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “Partially. Not that I wouldn’t mind having a wife and kids…I just never got around to doing that.”

  She held his gaze. “I’m glad.” She glanced out her window then back at him. “I was wondering about something. Were you really restoring that old bike?”

  He snorted. “Hell no. I had never ridden a motorcycle before going undercover. A friend loaned me that one. You won’t believe all the shit I got from the other bikers when I showed up on that piece of crap. I only said I was restoring it so Viper wouldn’t get suspicious.”

  Karen giggled. “Then it was probably a good thing I was blindfolded when you took me for a ride so I couldn’t see how bad you drove.”

  He chuckled, then cleared his throat. “True.” He reached for his door handle. “Might as well show you around.”

  Karen exited her side of the car and came around to his side to open his door for him. But he beat her to it. He had no problem embarking with one hand, but she hovered close by, just in case.

  “I’m not an invalid, Karen. You’d be surprised what I can do with one hand.”

  She jerked her gaze to his. Was there a double meaning in that sentence? Her heart went wild, slamming against her ribs.

  His eyes darkened, heated, turning a deep greenish blue.

  She lowered her gaze. “I’ll bet you’ve got a fancy boat out back too, don’t you?”

  He let out another snort. “Hell no.” He turned and headed for the front of the house. “I’m from Arizona. I find water a little intimidating. I prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground.”

  Karen followed him up to the beautiful, wrap-a-round porch. “Yet you live right on the edge of one of the deepest lakes in the nation.”

  He kept walking until he reached the bott
om of the porch. “I like the scenery.”

  “It is breathtaking,” she agreed. “Have you ever gotten your feet wet? You don’t seem like the type of guy who would be afraid of anything.”

  He paused on the first step and turned back to her. “You’d be surprised.”

  She stopped in front of him, tilting her head back. “So what scares you, Craig? Is today the day you’ll show me the real you?”

  She caught a glimpse of nervousness in his eyes before he lowered his gaze. “The man you met in the compound, the man I portrayed there, was mostly me. I can be a crude bastard and I say ‘fuck’ a lot. The guys at the office call me a potty mouth.”

  His gaze shot back to hers. “I like the water as long as I’m not in it. But what scares me most is you.”

  Karen’s heart sped up. She swallowed hard. “Why is that?”

  He turned away from her. “Come inside,” he urged, heading for the front door. “If you think the outside is cool, you should see my videogame room.”

  Was he teasing? Again, Karen wasn’t sure. But she got the impression he’d changed the subject on purpose because he wasn’t quite ready to answer her question.

  She followed him inside. Indeed, it was a lovely home, big, open rooms, vaulted ceilings in the living room and kitchen area, a circular staircase that went up to the second level. He didn’t have a lot of furniture, but if he had to travel back and forth between Seattle and Sandpoint, she imagined he hadn’t had much time to decorate the place. Huge windows gave a fantastic view of the lake and the surrounding area.

  He wasn’t joking about the videogame room. A huge flat-screen television at least five feet wide hung on the wall in the room off to the left of the kitchen. Surround sound speakers came out of the ceiling and the wall around the room. A huge sectional black leather couch sat near the wall farthest from the television.

  She followed him into the room, glancing around. “Impressive.”

  “It’s also my entertainment room. Where I watch movies, but mostly I use it to play videogames. Does that bother you?”

  She cocked a brow. “Should it?”